The Role of Line Managers and Leaders in Employee Development: M&S

This project report investigates the role of line managers and leaders in employee development, focusing on a case study of Marks & Spencer. It aims to analyze the significance of line managers and leaders in fostering employee growth, understand the importance of talent management within the workplace, and identify specific talent strategies that Marks & Spencer can implement to attract and retain its workforce. The research employs a positivism research philosophy and a deductive approach, utilizing a quantitative survey method to gather data. Key areas explored include the responsibilities of line managers in employee learning and development, the impact of talent management on organizational performance, and practical talent strategies such as effective training programs, strategic recruitment, performance measurement, and open communication. The report concludes with recommendations for Marks & Spencer, emphasizing the need for continuous improvement in talent management practices to enhance employee engagement and organizational success. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

Project Report (Part 2)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Research Topic.......................................................................................................................1
Research Aim.........................................................................................................................1
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................1
Research Questions................................................................................................................1
Research Rationale.................................................................................................................1
Research Background.............................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................2
Role of line managers and leaders in employee development...............................................2
Importance of talent management in the workplace...............................................................2
Talent strategies that Marks and Spencer can implement to attract and retain people...........3
METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION...........................................................................4
Research Philosophy..............................................................................................................4
Research Approach.................................................................................................................4
Research Method or choice....................................................................................................4
Research Strategy...................................................................................................................5
Research Time Horizon..........................................................................................................5
Research Techniques and Procedures....................................................................................5
Research Ethics......................................................................................................................6
Research Sampling.................................................................................................................6
Research Costs........................................................................................................................6
Research Access.....................................................................................................................6
Activities and timeline............................................................................................................7
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS...........................................................................7
Questionnaire and Frequency table........................................................................................7
Interpretations.......................................................................................................................10

RESEARCH OUTCOMES............................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................19
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................19
REFLECTION & RECOMMENDATION OF ALTERNATIVE RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................22

INTRODUCTION
Research Topic
Role of line managers and leaders in employee development. A case study on Marks and
Spencer.
Research Aim
To analyse the role of line managers and leaders in employee development. A case study on
Marks and Spencer.
Research Objectives
 To analyse the role of line managers and leaders in employee development.
 To understand the importance of talent management in the workplace.
 To identify the talent strategies that Marks and Spencer can implement to attract and
retain people.
Research Questions
 What is the role of line managers and leaders in employee development?
 What is the importance of talent management in the workplace?
 What talent strategies can Marks and Spencer implement to attract and retain people?
Research Rationale
Rationale of this research is to undertake the analysis of the role of line managers along with the
team leaders in order to develop the employees. The reason being is that they are the people who
can significantly contribute to the overall success of the organization with the improvement in
performance as well. Rationale of the research is also to understand the importance of talent
management in the workplace and to understand the various strategies that the chosen
organization can execute so that they can attract and retain the people in their best possible way.
Research Background
Talent management refers to the significant component of the company which contributes to the
overall growth and development of the organization. it basically involves the different human
resource processes for example the attracting and selecting along with the retaining of employees
in the workplace. Moreover there are various activities which involve talent management and
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contain the performance management and learning and development along with the employee
engagement and recruiting which is followed by the workforce planning and many more. Team
leaders and line managers play a significant role in the overall success and development of the
staff. The chosen Organization in the current research study is Marks and Spencer. It is one of
the leading international retail companies of clothing and household products. It is headquartered
in the United Kingdom and founded by the Michael marks and Thomas Spencer and established
in 1884. The company operates across different geographic locations and has a large base of
customers (Fletcher, 2019).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Role of line managers and leaders in employee development
According to the Armstrong and Taylor, 2020, There are different roles of line managers and
leaders in the employee development and the success of the organization. They are responsible
for the learning and training needs of the employees which helps in to grab the appropriate
opportunities related with the job profile for any other growth areas. moreover the managers
contributes in the constructive feedback to their team members because it supports them in
growth and development of their individual strengths along with the areas of improvement for
better gaining of the productivity and self development as well (Bos-Nehles and Meijerink,
2018). This helps the employees to focus on their work and along with their weaknesses so that
they can work on such weaknesses and improve their skills and capabilities in order to perform
the job. one of the most important role played by leaders and line managers are that day
encourages and motivate the employees so that they can enhance their skills and along with the
existing knowledge so that they can contribute to the best of their job profile with good
innovation and creativity along with the decision making and self engagement. Therefore
basically the line managers and leaders act as mentors to their team members who support in
designing of the employee development activities which are highly relevant and helpful for the
employees in order to enhance and improve the overall performance of the employees and also
of the entire organization as well (Audenaert, Decramer, George and Van Waeyenberg, 2019).
Importance of talent management in the workplace
According to the Dirani, Abadi, Alizadeh and Majzun, 2020, Talent management is one of the
very important activities which are conducted in the workplace because it is considered as crucial
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for any job as it helps the organization in attracting along with the maintenance of personnel in
order to get the high performance within the organization. It helps in promoting the effective
talent from the employees which controls inside the workplace and help the employees to get
engaged in the additional activity of the organization and prompt towards their job in an efficient
manner (Bhat and Bharel, 2018). This helps the employees to get a boom with their basic
performance and productivity which not only helps in the development of employees but also the
entire enterprise who are working for the company. This is because employees try to grab the
opportunity so that they can develop new skills and capabilities and enhance the same for the
respective job profile to be more improved and enhanced. Additionally talent management
considers the retention of the best talent in the company for a longer period of time by providing
the good and best development for the employees in order to fight with the competitors and
gaining the competitive advantage for the same. Therefore it is said that talent management is a
very crucial activity for both the organization and as well as of the employees because it makes
sure that a high level of performance must be conducted within the marketplace (Rubel, Rimi,
Yusliza and Kee, 2018).
Talent strategies that Marks and Spencer can implement to attract and retain people
According to the Subramony, Segers, Chadwick and Shyamsunder, 2018, There are various
talent management strategies which Marks and Spencer must implement in order to attract and
retain people and it is important to execute for the better growth and development of the
organization and as well as the individual also. One of the strategies is such that the company can
conduct the effective and efficient training of the employees so that they can be able to improve
and enhance the overall existing capabilities and skills in order to develop the new knowledge
for better innovation and creative ideas which helps in the decision-making and engagement
within the team. Moreover, detailed job descriptions must be developed by the human resource
management so that the qualified and experienced candidates are selected for the job which is
known as the strategic recruitment and selection strategies adopted by the organization. Marks
and Spencer must focus on the measurement of the performance of the employees on a frequent
basis so that any issues or any problems can be identified on an hourly basis and can be rectified
as soon as possible (Huselid, 2018). Communication and interactive strategies are required to
perform the same so that the engagement of the employees can be strategic in nature. Open
communication is important to maintain within individual so that they can be able to interact
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with each and every powerful person in the organisation in different manner. Hence it can be
said that there are some of the techniques which the Marks and Spencer in forces to view and
appeal in addition to maintain the experience candidates for better talent management strategies
in order to attract and retain people (Hetland, Hetland, Bakker and Demerouti, 2018).
METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy is defined as the assumptions which are made by the investigator in
approximately finishing the investigation. there are different styles of research philosophies
which the investigator pick out on the basis of the requirement of the research study. There are
two basic studies of the research philosophy which is the positivism and interpretivism. in
context to the current investigation the investigator has used the research philosophy of
positivism because it has provided the upper level view in order to follow the different trends of
the current research topic (Zangirolami-Raimundo, Echeimberg and Leone, 2018).
Research Approach
Research approach is defined as the distinctive approaches in order to make the assumptions
approximately to the one-of-a-kind technique of information collection because its analysis helps
in the good interpretation. there are two types of research approaches that is the inductive and
deductive approach which is selected by the investigator in order to finish the final touch of the
assignment. in context of the current research study the researcher has used the research
approach of deductive as it has allowed the investigator to apply for dependable statistics and
legitimate in order to conduct the investigation on the current topic covered in the existing report
(Snyder, 2019).
Research Method or choice
Research methods is defined as the allowance of the effective and efficient collection of data
from various sources in order to make sure that the information collected is reliable and valid
from the variety of sources used. there are different sources such as the interviews and
questionnaires along with the books and journals which is followed by the observations and
focus groups and also many more examples of different research methods which are majorly
used for the motive of collection of data. In the current research questionnaire study is used in
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which the responses are gathered from different people for better analysis of the opinions
(Kumar, 2018).
Research Strategy
Research strategy is defined as the study method which is also called the step with the aid of step
plan of action which helps in the publications to the researcher so that the research can be
conducted in the effective and efficient manner. there are different varieties of research strategies
which includes the quantitative survey and the case study along with the qualitative interviews
and many more. It is significant for the investigator to select the suitable study approach in order
to conduct the investigation for better analysis and qualitative and quantitative study in the
current research report which is carried out in an effective way. In the current investigation the
researcher has used the quantitative survey (Pandey and Pandey, 2021).
Research Time Horizon
Research time horizon is defined as the time scale for time period used by the researcher in order
to conduct and finish the entire research study on the given topic. it is further divided into two
classifications such as the cross sectional studies and longitudinal studies. Cross sectional studies
is the short term study which is completed in two or three days and even maximum to the week.
Longitudinal study is the long-term study which takes the years or decades to complete the study
or investigation. In the current research investigation the researcher has used the cross-sectional
studies which is a short-term period and completed in within some of the days (Nayak and Singh,
2021).
Research Techniques and Procedures
Research techniques and procedures is essential to choose in order to select the most applicable
technique of statistics collection with the motive to ensure the reliability and legitimate
information is accumulated or not. There are basically two varieties of records collection such as
primary and secondary which helps the researcher in finding out the direct or indirect way to
conduct the research. primary method are the direct method of collecting the data which includes
the commentary and cognizance agencies along with the questionnaire and surveys and many
more. secondary method is the indirect way of Data collection which includes the books and
journals along with the reviews and internet and many more. In order to complete the current
research the researcher has used the questionnaire that is the primary method of data collection
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and it is also known as the first hand record collection from the respondents which is the most
effective tool of gathering the opinions of the people (Novikov and Novikov, 2019).
Research Ethics
Research ethics is one of the significant area in conducting the research and important for the
investigator to take the research ethics into consideration so that the research can be completed in
an effective and efficient manner. in the current investigation the investigator has obtained the
informed consent from different respondents so that all the information can be kept confidential
along with the anonymous data collection. moreover there are different limitations which
includes the lack of availability of time along with the resources in order to conduct the current
research (Ledford and Gast, 2018).
Research Sampling
Sampling is defined as the very crucial factor of the investigation which is also known as a
system of selecting the predetermined range of observations from a large population. there are
basically two different varieties of sampling from which the investigator selects in the current
research work such as the probabilistic and non probabilistic are the sampling strategies which
are used. In the current investigation study the researcher has used the the sampling of simple
random which states that each and every respondent has an equal treat of having the selected
within the sample and the sample size is of the 50 respondents (Ragab and Arisha, 2018).
Research Costs
Research cost is defined as the entire cost in order to conduct the whole investigation from
collecting of the responses with the help of questionnaire and to generate the report along with
the analysing the final outcomes and results. In the current study the cost is approximately of
between the 15000 to 25000 Dollars. This is because the conducting of the primary study is quite
expensive because questionnaire formulation and collecting responses takes good cost along with
its interpretation and analysis as well and that is why this is a cost which is estimated for the
current investigation (Hoon and Singh, 2019).
Research Access
Research access is defined as the accessibility of the data collection resources by the
investigators so that they can comfortably and easily get the data for better analysis and
interpretation of it. In the current investigation the researcher has used the direct respondent in
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the form of questionnaire and also the different books and journals along with the internet. There
were some sites and books which was not accessible but there were many sites which was
accessible and hence collected the data from those websites and books and journals for better
conducting of the research (Newman and Gough, 2020).
Activities and timeline
Activities and timelines provides the outline of the each and every activity of the research
conducted in how much period of time and how much time it took to complete the entire
research. There are total 5 sections activities in which the research is under such as section 1 is of
the title and objective along with the responsibilities which took week 1 and 2 week. section 2 is
of the reasons for choosing this research project which took week 3. section 3 is of the literature
sources searched which took week 4 and 5 along with the 6 and 7. section pipe is of the research
approach and methodologies which took week 9 and week 10. and all such activities are
completed within the time period of 21 September to the 29 September (Davidavičienė, 2018).
Activities for Part A Week Date
Section 1: Title,
Objective,
Responsibilities
Week 1 and 2 21st Sept
Section 2: Reasons for
choosing this research
project
Week 3 23rd Sept
Section 3: Literature
sources searched
Week 4,5,6 and 7 25th Sept
Section 4: Activities and
Timescales
Week 8 27th Sept
Section 5: Research
Approach and
Methodologies
Week 9 and 10 29th Sept
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS
Questionnaire and Frequency table
Q1. Do you have the understanding of talent
management?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 15
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c) May be 15
Q2. According to you, what comes majorly
under talent management?
Frequency
a) Recruitment and selection 10
b) Employee retention 15
c) Training and development of employees 25
Q3. What can be the major role of line
managers and leaders in employee
development?
Frequency
a) Aligning business objectives with employee
training
15
b) Performance management 15
c) Engagement and motivation 20
Q4. What can be importance of talent
management within organization?
Frequency
a) Improves productivity 15
b) Enhances the retention of best talent 10
c) Betters the entire workflow 25
Q5. What can be most appropriate strategy
for talent management?
Frequency
a) Feedback and reviews 25
b) Provide career development paths 10
c) Standardizing talent review and on boarding
process
15
Q6. According to you, current strategies of
talent management used needs more
Frequency
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improvement?
a) Yes 10
b) No 25
c) May be 15
Q7. What improvement must be required in
the organization in terms of talent
management?
Frequency
a) Change management in training and
development techniques
20
b) Realigning of goals and objectives of the
firm
10
c) Improvement in performance appraisal
methods
20
Q8. According to you, organization must
invest in talent management strategies?
Frequency
a) Yes 10
b) No 20
c) May be 20
Q9. Why is it important to focus on talent
management within organization?
Frequency
a) To retain the best talent 20
b) To boost more sales and revenue
generations
15
c) To maintain good reputation and image in
the market place
15
Q10. According to you, line managers and
leaders must be involved in the decision
Frequency
9